Thiruvananthapuram: When Minnu PM joined the Kerala Police as a clerk at its headquarters on compassionate grounds following her father's death, she knew it wasn't the job she was going to do for the rest of her life.
Her late father, a policeman, who had died while in service, had already shown her the path -- civil services -- and Minnu was determined to put in the hard work to achieve it.
On Friday, when the results of the civil services examination, 2020 was published, Minnu, who hails from the capital, was 150th in the rank list.
"Appa is no more, he died after I had finished my plus-two. I got his job through dying-in-harness. So now I'm doing my dad's job, but I had not worked my way into it," Minnu told Manorama News.
She realises that her parents had aspired for her to be placed in a better position.
"My dad did not provide me education to get into his job," said the native of Karyavattom, a gentle smile flashing across.
Minnu had joined Kerala Police in 2013, but she had kept her dream of cracking the civil services to herself for a while. "I presented my wish here in the office before I went for the interview. I had to get the NOC," said Minnu.
She began preparing for the civil services in 2015 and made her first attempt two years later, missing out by 13 marks.
Luckily for her, she was placed at the police headquarters in the capital, where scores of former civil services rank holders are employed.
And Minnu, who hold a postgraduate degree in Biochemistry, found the moral support she had sought from the police top brass there.
"Former DGP Loknath Behra sir guided me on how to prepare for the exams and regarding my leaves," said the mother of a second standard boy.
She goes on to thank a host of IPS officers, including Merin Joseph, Manoj Abraham and Debesh Kumar Behera, who guided her in her civil services journey. Her husband DJ Joshi is employed in the ISRO.